Kohlberg Dilemmas

Form A

Dilemma I

Joe is a fourteen-year-old boy who wanted to go to camp very much.
His father promised him he could go if he saved up the money for it
himself. So Joe worked hard at his paper route and saved up the forty
dollars it cost to go to camp, and a little more besides. But just
before camp was going to start, his father changed his mind. Some of
his friends decided to go on a special fishing trip, and Joe's father
was short of the money it would cost. So he told Joe to give him the
money he had saved from the paper route. Joe didn't want to give up
going to camp, so he thinks of refusing to give his father the
money.

1. Should Joe refuse to give his father the money?

1a. Why or why not?

2. Does the father have the right to tell Joe to give him the
money?

2a. Why or why not?

3. Does giving the money have anything to do with being a good
son?

3a. Why or why not?

4. Is the fact that Joe earned the money himself important in
this situation?

4a. Why or why not?

5. The father promised Joe he could go to camp if he earned the
money. Is the fact that the father promised the most important
thing in the situation?

5a. Why or why not?

6. In general, why should a promise kept?

7. Is it important to keep a promise to someone you don't know
well and probably won't see again?

7a. Why or why not?

8. What do you think is the most important thing a father
should be concerned about in his relationship to his son?

8a. Why is that the most important thing?

9. In general, what should be the authority of a father over
his son?

9a. Why?

10. What do you think is the most important thing a son should
be concerned about in his relationship to his father?

10a. Why is that the most important thing?

11. In thinking back over the dilemma, what would you say is
the most responsible thing for Joe to do in this situation?

11a. Why?

Dilemma II

Judy was a twelve-year-old girl. Her mother promised her that she
could go to a special rock concert coming to their town if she saved
up from baby-sitting and lunch money to buy a ticket to the concert.
She managed to save up the fifteen dollars the ticket cost plus
another five dollars. But then her mother changed her mind and told
Judy that she had to spend the money on new clothes for school. Judy
was disappointed and decided to go to the concert anyway. She bought
a ticket and told her mother that she had only been able to save five
dollars. That Saturday she went to the performance and told her
mother that she was spending the day with a friend. A week passed
without her mother finding out. Judy then told her older sister,
Louise, that she had gone to the performance and had lied to her
mother about it. Louise wonders whether to tell their mother what
Judy did.

1. Should Louise, the older sister, tell their mother
that Judy lied about the money or should she keep quiet? 1a. Why?

2. In wondering whether to tell, Louise thinks of the fact that
Judy is her sister. Should that make a difference in Louise's
decision?

2a. Why or why not?

3. Does telling have anything to do with being a good
daughter?

3a. Why or why not?

4. Is the fact that Judy earned the money herself important in
this situation?

4a. Why or why not?

5. The mother promised Judy she could go to the concert if she
earned the money. Is the fact that the mother promised the most
important thing in the situation?

5a. Why or why not?

6. Why in general should a promise be kept?

7. Is it important to keep a promise to someone you don't know
well and probably won't see again?

7a. Why or why not?

8. What do you think is the most important thing a mother
should be concerned about in her relationship to her daughter?

8a. Why is that the most important thing?

9. In general, what should be the authority of a mother over
her daughter?

9a. Why?

10. What do you think is the most important thing a daughter
should be concerned about in her relationship to her mother?

10a. Why is that the most important thing?

11. In thinking back over the dilemma, what would you say is
the most responsible thing for Louise to do in this situation?

11a. Why?

Dilemma III

In Europe, a woman was near death from a special
kind of cancer. There was one drug that the doctors thought might
save her. It was a form of radium that a druggist in the same town
had recently discovered. the drug was expensive to make, but the
druggist was charging ten times what the drug cost him to make. He
paid $400 for the radium and charged $4,000 for a small dose of the
drug. The sick woman's husband, Heinz, went to everyone he knew to
borrow the money and tried every legal means, but he could only get
together about $2,000, which is half of what it cost. He told the
druggist that his wife was dying, and asked him to sell it cheaper or
let him pay later. But the druggist said, "No, I discovered the drug
and I'm going to make money from if." So, having tried every legal
means, Heinz gets desperate and considers breaking into the man's
store to steal the drug for his wife.

1. Should Heinz steal the drug?

1a. Why or why not?

2. Is it actually right or wrong for him to steal the drug?

2a. Why is it right or wrong?

3. Does Heinz have a duty or obligation to steal the drug?

3a. Why or why not?

4. If Heinz doesn't love his wife, should he steal the drug for
her? Does it make a difference in what Heinz should do whether or
not he loves his wife?

4a. Why or why not?

5. Suppose the person dying is not his wife but a stranger.
Should Heinz steal the drug for the stranger?

5a. Why or why not?

6. Suppose it's a pet animal he loves. should Heinz steal to
save the pet animal?

6a. Why or why not?

7. Is it important for people to do everything they can to save
another's life?

7a. Why or why not?

8. It is against the law for Heinz to steal. Does that make it
morally wrong?

8a. Why or why not?

9. In general, should people try to do everything they can to
obey the law?

9a. Why or why not?

9b. How does this apply to what Heinz should do?

10. In thinking back over the dilemma, what would you say is
the most responsible thing for Heinz to do?

10a. Why?

Dilemma VII

Two young men, brothers, had got into serious trouble. They were
secretly leaving town in a hurry and needed money. Karl, the older
one, broke into a store and stole a thousand dollars. Bob, the
younger one, went to a retired old man who was known to help people
in town. He told the man that he was very sick and that he needed a
thousand dollars to pay for an operation. Bob asked the old man to
lend him the money and promised that he would pay him back when he
recovered. Really Bob wasn't sick at all, and he had no intention of
paying the man back. Although the old man didn't know Bob very well,
he lent him the money. So Bob and Karl skipped town, each with a
thousand dollars.

1a. Which is worse, stealing like Karl or cheating like
Bob?

1b. Why is that worse?

2. What do you think is the worst thing about cheating the old
man?

2a. why is that the worst thing?

3. In general, why should a promise be kept?

4. Is it important to keep a promise to someone you don't know
well or will never see again?